The Kovarian Ward
by Gallifrey Immigrant
Summary: Lady Christina, pregnant with a new baby, ends up in far more, and far darker, trouble than she intended when she tries to steal from a woman called River Song, and ends up investigating the Kovarian Ward.(A request fic).
1. Chapter 1

**NOTE: This is a request fic that I've written (the prompt being pregnant Christine Souza meets River Song, and take on Madame Kovarian). It's a little different from what I usually write, but I hope I did well. Enjoy, read, and review!**

My name is Lady Christina Souza. I'm a thief. I've stolen cash from an unbreakable bank, jewels from the museum owned by the Queen herself, and done other things I can't even write about it here in my journal (Can't give the National Guard too many clues about my whereabouts, you know.) I pride myself on not being fazed by much, and I've only been surprised twice in my life.

Once, when I met an alien called the Doctor. We ended up saving the world. I wanted to go with him, and he said he wasn't taking passengers. Just my luck to decide to hang out with the one guy who wouldn't have me,

The second time, was a few months ago, when after a one-night stand with some random guy, I found out I was pregnant. I still curse myself about being so stupid! I mean, the guy wasn't even that hot...okay he was that hot, but he didn't warrant all of this. Now I have to find diapers, and pacifiers, and maybe a stroller. And I'm a infamous thief, so I cant just go into any hospital ad ask for help. You can steal diapers, but you can't steal a whole room in a maternity ward.

Oh, and black cat-suits are a no-no with my big heavy belly.

So, I decided to try to steal some products from an unsuspecting bystander. I eventually picked somebody—a new arrival to my neighborhood (I call whatever the city I'm currently staying at "my neighborhood" while I'm there). She had long curls, usually wore high boots, and walked like she owned the place. She would stroll down the street lazily, and no matter what she was doing, she would stand in such a way that everyone stole a glance; and I had a feeling she knew it from a certain alertness in her eyes, a twinkle here and there. Once or twice, I almost thought she was looking at me. But that couldn't be possible—I was practically the master at being invisible

So she couldn't see me. Right?

Anyway, all I cared about was that she was pregnant. That meant she might have new-born baby products. I was gonna steal some stuff from her—not enough to make her desperate, but a pacifier here and a stroller there wouldn't hurt. When she seemed to be sleeping, I crept into her house through her window (I took a little longer than normal, since I was carrying around a baby), and quietly began to look for some baby products. To my delight, there was a lot of pacifiers, baby clothes, and other baby things. I patted my stomach, and whispered to my little one "Mommy's going to make sure we're all set."

Then, I heard someone behind me. Turning around, I was shocked to see the curly haired woman behind me. I suddenly felt a pinprick on my neck, and realized I was given a tranquilizer. Falling unconscious, my last thought was "This day is gonna suck."

I woke up lying on a stiff back. I felt awkward, but I didn't know why. Peering over my belly, I saw a wooden room. It looked somewhat boring, with almost no posters, with a few plants here and there. If I had to say, I would have guessed that whoever came here was only planning on staying a short while. Nevertheless, the streak of bright red here and there indicated that whoever lived here had some sense of flair. Feeling a itch on my wrist, I looked there, and soon realized why my back was stiff.

I had been tied spread-eagle to a bed. A bed in the house of the woman I tried to steal from.

No problem.

Come on, I'm a thief. You think I can't untie myself? I've gotten out of high-security cuffs. Simple rope should be easy.

So I struggled with the rope. And kept on struggling. I moved to the left, and moved to the right. But the rope didn't budge.

A door opened, and out came the curly haired woman who had tranquilized me. She smiled upon seeing me. "Good morning! Did you have a nice sleep?"

"Never slept better," I said dryly. "Now, get me out of this damn rope."

"Oh, I don't think so, sweetie," the woman said. "Name's River Song, by the way. Yours?"

"I just asked you to untie me, and you're asking me about my name!" I said.

"I find being polite is the best option, even when talking to thieves," she said. She was still smiling, but I could sense a certain trace of anger in her eyes.

I was about to panic; if she knew who I was, she could report me to the authorities. Then I realized that, to her, I was a common thief, not the Great Master Thief Lady Christina (Me, vain? Never!). All I had to do is keep it cool.

"I'm so sorry, miss," I said. "I didn't want to steal. I had to get products for my baby-to-be," and I gestured with my chin toward my belly (hands tied behind my head and all), "and I thought you wouldn't mind "losing" a few things. Oh, and I'm Christina."

"Nice to meet you! May I call you Chrissie?" River asked.

Chrissie? Sounded like a poodle's name. "No, I'd prefer Christina," I said as sweetly as I could. The rope was starting to chafe. "Will you please let me go?"

River sat on the edge of the bed. With a thoughtful look on her face, she placed her left hand on my belly. "No, I won't, because I've got a job for you. Have you ever heard of the Kovarian Ward, Chrissie?"

I had never heard of them, and I didn't care who they were. "Nope. Now get me out of these ropes, now, or I'll-"

"Or you'll what? Go ahead. Try to escape, Ms. Souza," said River with a smirk.

Ha, she didn't know who she was messing with. I immediately began to use the patented techniques I had used to escape several prison cells. I used every single trick in my book.

Nothing worked.

"Do you want some help?" said River.

"Shut up," I said. Then my eyes went wide.

"You know I'm Christina Souza?" I said.

"Yes. And I know that you're a master thief. Fortunately, I have ilithiosa rope. Made by a group of alien thieves guild, and made to be inescapable. So, until I choose to release you, you are trapped."

She began to pet my belly as I fumed. "As I was saying, the Kovarian Ward is a maternity ward a few miles away from here. A lot of people go there." She started making circles with her finger on my stomach.

"Oh, well good for them," I said.

"Except they never come back. And I have reason to believe that the woman in charge is...doing something very bad."

"Do you know the woman?" I asked, curious despite myself.

"No, but I'm still interested in investigating," she said. I could tell she was hiding something. "And that's when you come in. I want to to use your skills to assist me. As pregnant women, we'll slide in, and figure out what's going on. Simple!"

She had a point, but I refused to accept it. "I still don't see a reason why I should help."

River's smile faded. "Then let me give you a reason," she said. She reached outside of my vision. I struggled to see what she was doing. When she came back into view, she was holding a stethoscope.

"What's that for?" I said, laughing.

She ignored my attempts to unsettle her and placed the earpieces on herself. Lifting up my shirt, she then she placed the other end on my belly. The cold metal felt weird.

"What the hell?" I said. I fidgeted under her hand. "Who do you think you are to lift my shirt without permission? And get your tools off me—I don't want to play Doctor with you!"

She seemed to find something about what I said funny, but simply stayed silent and tapped my belly until I realized moving was only wasting my energy.

River closed her eyes, listening to the heartbeat. "You have a very healthy baby," she said.

"Why, thank you. I really value your opinion," I said with as much sarcasm as I could muster.

She then took the earpieces off and put them on my ear. Beat-beat-beat. It sounded noisier than I thought inside. The whole situation as a little surreal.

"If you don't help me, I'm going to call the police," she said raising her voice to speak over the heartbeat. " Then your baby will probably end up in a foster system, or worse. And this isn't just a joyride trip—the Ward's doing bad stuff. Maybe even to children." She began poking my belly too accentuate her words as she spoke, " So, you can either help me investigate the Ward, or you can go to jail. The choice is yours, Lady Christina de Souza."

I was still uncertain. Could I trust her? She was blackmailing me, and I didn't really fancy checking out some strange place.

But she had the upper hand. And it was just one small trip.

"Fine, I'll help you. But you have to promise to let me go, and give me baby products if I do."

"You're not exactly in a position to negotiate," she pointed out.

Before I could reply, she said "But I promise to help you if you say yes. Because I'm nice. Plus, don't you want to have an adventure?"

I _wasn't_ in a position to negotiate. And I did like a good adventure...

"Then I'm in," I said.


	2. Chapter 2

The next day, River and I were at the ward. A large building, with the words "Kovarian Ward" loomed over us. It was oddly silent. Peering into the ward's windows while River locked the car, all I could see was darkness.

"Is the place deserted?" I asked. "Cause it looks like nobody's home." I had my hand on my belly, ready to run if River was pulling one on me.

"They have soundproof and extremely tinted windows," River replied. "To keep patients' privacy, according to them."

"And according to you?" I asked.

River knocked on the door, and said "I think they need to get better at lying."

The door opened, and we were met by a pregnant woman wearing a dress. "Hello! Are you here for the Kovarian Maternity Ward's services?"

"Yes, we are," said River, flashing her white teeth in a grin.. "I'm...Amy Smith, and this is Christina Smith. We're lovers, you see." She spontaneously wrapped her arm around me.

 _Lovers?_ That wasn't part of the deal! I glared at her. She simply smiled at me. "Don't look so sulky, sweetie," she said ,kissing me on the cheek. I did the best fake smile I could.

The woman looked questioningly at us "So ya must be surrogates, correct?" she said

"Yes," River said quickly.

"We wanted to have 2 babies in the family," I lied. "So we both agreed to carry children, and now we'll conceive at the same hospital , like we always wanted!"

"Lovely!" said the woman. "Kovarian likes surrogates...the Ward will treat you very well. Let me take you to our waiting room. Just gonna need you to answer a few questions while we walk."

As I went inside with River, it became clear just how much the windows blocked out. The walls were painted white, with a red checker pattern on the floor. and ceiling There were people bustling to and fro—doctors, secretaries, and other pregnant woman in gold dresses. All female, I noticed.

"First question: do you have any diseases?" our escort asked. We shook our heads.

"Wonderful!" she said, giggling. (I was starting to find her annoying.) "Second question: have you guys," she continued, lowering her voice, "broken the law? Or commited any crimes?"

I quickly said "Nope! Our records are squeaky clean. Right, River?"

The escort looked confused. "I thought you said your name was Amy?" she said to River.

Whoops. I already screwed up.

River, however, smoothly replied "River's just some stupid pet name my sister has for me. Sometimes she doesn't know when to be quiet."

"Aww, that's cute," said the woman. When the woman's back was turned, River shot me an angry look.

After a few minutes, and some more questions, we got to the waiting room. Instead of the happy colors I'd expect from a pregnancy ward, it was colored black.

"It was nice to be with you gals, but I gotta go now," our escort said. "The Midwives will be with ya in no time. Cheerio!"

"I have one question," I asked. "You're pregnant, right? Why aren't you on medical leave? Why are there a bunch of other pregnant people working here?"

"Because we're Surrogates. And Madame Kovarian doesn't give medical leave," the escort said. She was out of the room before I could ask what a Surrogate was.

"Insufferable, wasn't she?" smirked River.

"She was hiding something," I pointed out.

"This whole place is hiding something," replied River. "Come on, let's go before those Midwives show up."

Before we could leave, a woman with a apron and one of those facemasks you always see on doctors opened the door our escort had come out of, and came up to us.

"Hello," she said. "I am Midwife Josie."

"Uh, hello?" I said.

"We'll take you to your chambers now. Marie told us that you are lovers, yes? Then do you want a room together?"

"No," I said.

"Actually, yes!" said River, winking at me.

"Then I'll take you to Room 616," said Josie. She led us down a long hallway. Pictures of teddy bears lined the blueish walls. The lights on the ceiling felt warm and inviting. The ward didn't seem as bad as River had said.

I felt an arm grab mine. Looking to my left, I saw a grinning River.

"It's going rather well, don't you think?" said River.

"Putting us in the same room? You're taking this 'lover' thing very seriously," I said dryly.

River's grin grew wider. "Us being in the same room lets us share info easier. I didn't do it just so I could... _corrupt_ your innocence," she said, batting her eyebrows playfully.

"Me? Innocent? You don't know me very well, " I said. Truth be told, she wasn't bad on the eyes, and although I still hadn't forgiven her for tying me up, I wouldn't mind a snog with...

Woah, there. Focus on the goal, Christie.

"Here we are," said Josie, opening a door. Inside was a group of women, all pregnant like us, sitting on couches. This seemed like a communal area. Josie passed River a key, and told us "A few doors down in this room is your bed. You can sleep there. Please feel free to talk to some of the other women here—the Ward encourages socialization amoung the patients. In a few hours, one of the Midwives will be here to check up on you. Good-bye, and have a great time in the Ward." With that, Josie walked off.

Several of the women looked up, but I wasn't really interested in chatting. Actually, all I wanted was to go to bed. A redheaded woman waved at me and beckoned me over, but I ignored her. The pillow was calling to me.

"I'm taking a nap," I said to River.

"Alright. Here's the key," she said. "I'm going to take a look around the place. "

I shrugged, and went into a low-lighted bedroom. There was one bed, but it was a big one. I mentally made a note to tell River to go sleep on the floor, and jumped onto the bed, because I wanted to feel it out. I promptly closed my eyes, preparing to take a short nap.

When I woke up, the light seemed much brighter than I remembered. I snuggled my head against the pillows, and then realized the light was actually sunlight. And that pillow wasn't actually a pillow.

"My,my, I didn't know I was that comfortable," said the unmistakable voice of River Song uncomfortably close to my ear.

I jumped off the bed immediately, and in the process hit my head on something. River began laughing as I glared.

"You didn't have to move, you know," River said, still laughing, "not when you were so relaxed."

"Shut up," I said, rubbing my head. I looked around at the room. I coud see a rather fancy looking room. Hearts and baby pictures lined the blue walls. There were a few lights besides the ceiling light I had hit my head on. I looked back at River, and said "How long was I out?"

"Several hours. You seemed tired, so I let you sleep," River said.

"Thanks," I replied. I noticed that, for some reason, River's stomach seemed flatter than usual. I was about to tease her about losing weight, when she interrupted.

"Why don't you go outside, and talk to the other women? See if there's any other info you can find," River said.

"You're not going to come with me?" I asked.

She shook her head. Fiddling with the covers, she said "No. I think I'll rest a little more."

I had a feeling there was a reason she wanted me to leave, but I let it go. "See you later," I said.

Walking out the door, I was confronted with a woman with a bunch of dishes. I could smell food.

"Hello, do you want some of this foo-", said the server.

I said "YES!" and immediately started eating with the fork on the dish. The woman cleared her throat, and I stopped, looking up.

"Um, thanks?" I said.

The woman, with a bemused expression, said "You're hungry, aren't you? We'll set a table, and you can eat to your heart's content."

I went to sit down. While I was fantasizing about the new meal, a finger tapped me on the shoulder. I turned around to see a bushy haired redhead.

"Hi, my name's Sara," she said, holding out her hand "I noticed you came in yesterday, correct?"

"Yeah."

"I've been here for several days. They treat the expecting mothers really well while we're staying," she said.

At that point, a tray of food was placed in front of me. The smell of the food made my stomach grumble audibly. Sara laughed and pointed at the food.

"See what I mean," she said.

"I haven't eaten so well in ages!" I said, stuffing my face. I'd been on the streets so long, I forgot what a good meal tasted like.

"Slow down," said Sara, grinning. When I ignored her and kept on chowing, she giggled and said "You must have been really hungry."

"You have no idea," I told her.

"All the free food and soft beds make up for the...weirdness here," said Sara. She looked somewhat troubled.

"You okay? Is there anything weird going on?" I asked, trying not to be too blatant with my probing questions.

"I'm great!" said Sara cheerfully. "It's just the way the Midwives act...it makes you feel like you're surrounded by a cult. I dunno, maybe I'm just a little jumpy."

"Hmm," I said, deciding to keep my suspicions to myself.

A few hours later, I was sitting in an examination room. The Midwives had told me that one of them would be checking my vitals and such. There was no sign of River. I figured that she had just decided to stay sleeping...I found that kinda weird, but didn't want to wake her unnecessarily. So I sat on a tall chair with quite a bit of cushioning , waiting for a Midwife .to come examine me.

Just when I was beginning to get bored, a woman came into the room. She was an older woman with black hair, and a white nurse's outfit on. But the most striking thing about her was the black eye-patch she wore. She smiled upon seeing me.

"Hello, my dear," said the woman. "You must be Christine, correct?'

"Yes. Are you the Midwife you's supposed to examine me?" I asked. She had a constant grin, but I felt mildly unsettled, for some reason.

"Don't worry, dear. You're in safe hands," she said. She positioned some sort of device with a large screen attached over my stomach. At first I was a little nervous, but then a green light came out.

"It's a scanner device," the woman explained. The device made a brrng sound while the light sweeped up and down my belly.

Getting bored of waiting for the scanner, I decided to chat. I was supposed to be on an investigative mission, after all.

"So, what's your name?" I said.

She had been staring at my belly, and seemed to be startled by my question. After a pause, she said "I'm Midwife Amy."

I was utterly sure that she was lying, but decided not to push it. "How long have you been working here?"

She shrugged, and said "Long enough. Madame Kovarian constantly works us...makes a lot of time feel like a little."

I looked at the device. I could see some numbers that were probably my vital signs. I turned to the smiling Amy, and said "How's my baby doing?"

"Perfectly fine, my dear. You know, you should think of going into the surrogate program." she said.

"Why?" I asked.

"You're a nice woman. We like nice people, here," she said. Her fingers began tapping on my uncovered belly. Her grin began to become even more unsettling, and she continued "You could birth so many healthy babies. In fact, you could even become Kovarian's personal surrogate mother."

"Wait, what?" I said. She laughed rather alarmingly .

"Sorry, just a thought," she said.

"Well, maybe keep your thoughts to yourself," I said.

I thought I saw a flash of anger cross her face. But then her face softened, and she said "Of course. Your baby's very healthy, by the way. See you later." She walked to the door, and began to leave. Before she left, she turned around.

"Oh, and tell your friend River I said 'hi'," she said, grinning more than ever.

By the time I realized what was wrong with what she had said, she had already left.


	3. Chapter 3

I found River sitting in the living room.

"You took a long time. Having a good time with that redhead?" said River. I though I detected a hint of jealousy.

"Her name's Sara," I said.

"Oooh, first-name basis. Did you find anything useful?" River asked.

"A Midwife was acting a bit strange. And she knew your name," I said.

"I see," River said. She frowned. "Don't trust anyone here."

"You know, this place isn't that bad," I said. "Free food, free massages...maybe we're overreacting-"

"Shut up."

"What?" I said, shocked.

"I said to shut up," River gravely said. She turned around, and for once she wasn't joking or smiling.

"The woman in charge of this ward is one of the most malevolent individuals I've ever met," River stated. I tried to butt in, but she kept on talking: "No matter how sweet this place looks, there is almost certainly a veneer of corruption underneath. Nothing good is happening here."

I looked into her eyes, and saw something ferocious behind them. She wasn't pulling my leg here.

"Okay, I believe you."

"I need to do more research first. Talk to the people here. See if you can find anything interesting," said River.

"Okay," I said.

"And if you need massages, I can give you one," River said.

Was this some sort of trick? Her expression was unreadable.

"Fine, give me one," I said. I certainly could use it.

She put her hands above my belly, pushing and prodding. It felt odd, but relaxing.

"Stop resisting, sweetie," River said softly, her hair brushing into my face (though for some reason, I didn't mind). "I'm not going to hurt you. Relax."

I closed my eyes. Her hands were rather soft, and I began to relax into them. I breathed in and out slowly, and my aching muscles stopped aching as much. I opened my eyes again, and I was staring into River's beautiful greyish-green eyes. Her face had somehow drawn inches from my own, and I could feel her hot breath near my cheeks. I wanted to say something, but found I didn't have any words. Then River's face began drawing closer...

And outside the hall, a loud clattering rang out. River got up to check it.

"Just a clumsy pregnant women," she said. River sat on her bed instead of finishing the massage, and for some reason I was annoyed.

"Goodnight" said River. "Tommorow, we continue researching this ward."

"Okay, then. Goodnight," I said. I wasn't quite sure what had just happened between River and I, and decided not to think about it.

"Don't worry," said River after a few minutes.

"About what?" I asked, annoyed she was interrupting my efforts to fall asleep.

"We'll get a chance to finish that massage another day," said River.

I spent several more days at the Ward. Each day I would be treated with the best food, massages, and anything else a girl could ask for. River told me to try to figure out my way around the place, so I asked Sara to give me a tour. Sara, for her part, was ecstatic at the chance to show me around.

"A lot of the women here don't like to talk," Sara explained while we were walking around. "So if I seem to talk a lot, or too much, it's just because, well, you're the first person who-"

I put my finger up to her lips to stop her rambling. "Your talking is not an issue. Trust me, if I don't want to hear someone speak, I don't hesitate to tell them to be quiet," I said.

"Thanks," she said.

I noticed a black door up ahead. I gestured toward it.

"No one is allowed in there," Sara said.

"Why?" I said.

"No one knows," Sara said.

I decided to make a note of this door.

"So, what's your plans after conceiving?" asked Sara, after a short silence.

"Hmm, I'm looking for a new job after this," I said. It wasn't technically a lie—I just neglected to mention my "old job" was as a thief.

"Right now, my mom is supporting me," said Sara sheepishly. "But wen my baby's old enough to not take all my attention, I'm gonna continue my training, and become a programmer."

"Best of luck," I replied. It was weird, having such a normal conversation after years of being on the run.

"You too!" Sara said.

When I found River, the first thing I mentioned was the door.

"Then that's where we go. Come on," said River.

"Now?" I asked.

"Why not?" asked River. "Scared?"

"Never!" I said.

We slipped through the door that the escort walked through. Making sure we were unseen, we snuck down the large hallways. I could hear the sounds of babies and woman in labor farther down the halls.

"What are we looking for?" I whispered to River, while we hid behind a group of potted plants to evade a passing guard.

"Anything that seems important," said River, "or looks like they don't want anyone under any circumstances to see."

Just then, a guard emerged from a room with a red door. The door must have had at least 4 locks, and she checked every single one twice. As she walked away, River and I looked at each other and nodded.

We had found something important.

River went to open the lock

"Leave that to me," I said. I picked the lock in 5 seconds flat. The room was dark, and looked like some form of medical lab. There were big glass tubes on the side of the doors, and black wooden tables lined up int middle of the room.

"This doesn't look like your average maternity ward," I said. I peered into the glass tubes, but they were murky.

Examining some documents on the table, River frowned. "Most of this stuff is just financial statements, patient records, oooh, a forgotten letter from a loved one...ahh," she said.

"What?" I asked, peering over her shoulder.

"It's a folder labeled the "Surrogate Program," she said.

It had diagrams of DNA, baby embryos, as well as what looked suspiciously like brainwashing techniques.

"So this is what this place is for?" I asked.

River slammed the folder down on the table. "It's as I feared: Kovarian is't bringing these women to just conceive babies; she's using them to birth super-soldiers!" she snarled.

"Well of course! I wouldn't put my name on a ward that wasn't creating babies that weren't the absolute best!" said a mysterious voice. It sounded familiar. I looked up and saw it was coming from a ceiling microphone.

"Damn you! You've been listening this whole time!" shouted River to the ceiling. A dark laugh was all that came in response.

"Time-out. What is going on, and who is that?" I asked, bewildered.

"She's-" started River, but she was cut off by the woman in the speakerphone. I realized this was the voice of the Midwife who had done my examination.

"I can speak for myself, River," said the woman, and continued , "My name is Madame Kovarian, and welcome to my Ward.


	4. Chapter 4

Footsteps were behind us River and I were running down the halls.

"You know her?" I said to River.

"An old enemy of mine," said River.

All the exits were locked. Very soon, it became clear we were trapped.

Then I began to feel...weird.

"I need to sit down," I said.

"We don't have time," said River. She was opening a vent above us.

Then I felt a wetness on my clothes. A REALLY big wetness.

"My water broke!" I said.

The guards were getting closer.

"Come on!" River said.

I was feeling weak. I saw the Midwives up ahead, and realized what I had to do.

"Go on without me!" I said.

"Oh, don't be stupid!" snapped River. "You sound like my fiancee!"

"Go!" I demanded.

River climbed up the vent, and called out "I'll be back for you. I PROMISE!" Then she closed the vent. And Madame Kovarian and the Wards were in front of me.

Madame Kovarian watched over me while I was sitting on the floor of the Ward. "Get her up."

The Midwives dutifully got me, who's water had just broke, off the floor. My slightly soiled medical garb whooshed across the floor as I was dragged in front of Kovarian, and I nearly fell over due to my belly.

The eye-patched woman looked at me with what almost looked like concern, andshe said "Her body will soon be going into contractions. We will need the operation here."

I had been recovering from the shock of my water suddenly breaking, but became alert at that .

"Stay away from me!" I snarled.

Kovarian, only mildly annoyed, placed a finger on the my lips and said "Now, now, dear. Think it through. River's nowhere to be found, and probably abandoned you. You are in the only ward around for miles. If you leave, you'll start labor before you can reach the exit." Madame Kovarian cupped my head in her gloved hands. "Face it. You may hate us, but we are the best chance for helping your child be born safely."

I reflected on what the odious woman was saying. I was certain that she would take my baby to become a soldier as soon as my conception was done. But she was right. My baby's best chance of survival lay with them. Almost as if on cue, I felt a shocking tremble in my body.

My contractions had begun.

"Alright, I'll do it," I said.

'Are you sure?" she said with a sickening smile of someone who's known she's won, and wants to savor the victory.

"YES, I'm sure!" I cried out. My contractions were getting stronger.

The Midwives took my dress off of me, then pulled the shirt I was wearing off of my head. It took some time, because of my belly, but eventually they got everything off. I felt cold in the air conditioned ward, and more than a little weirded out with Kovarian looking at my nude body. Eventually,a few Midwives came with folded garments in hand. I slipped on the gown—left hand through, then right hand- by myself, being careful not to restrict my stomach too much while tying it.

"Wait, don't tie it just yet," said Kovarian. "Midwives, examine the mother."

The Midwives dutifully looked at my stomach. They measured it, and then they scanned it with wha looked like some advanced ultrasound device.

"It's a girl," said a Midwife happily to Kovarian.

"Good," said Kovarian. After another Midwife whispered I Kovarian's ear, the eye-patched woman said "Looks like you'll need a C-section."

"Wait a second. You can't just give me a C-Section! That could be dangerous!" I said.

"Some people are so emotional," the Madame muttered. "Listen, we've scanned your vital signs. Your body isn't ready for a normal pregnancy. There would be too much blood loss and stress on your body. In order for the best pregnancy for your young girl, as well as the best chance of survival for you, we need to doa C-Section. And quickly."

This was getting worse by the second. I really didn't want to do it, but I had to. "Alright, I'll do it."

"As you wish. Midwives, get her onto the table," said Madame Kovarian. "Oh, and tie her up. I don't want her to try to escape after the conception. Not too tight, though; I don't want us to hurt the future soldier she's birthing."

As I was tied up spread-eagle, I thought "I hope I'm doing the right thing by you, little baby."

As the Midwives washed and inspected my stomach, Kovarian began talking. Weirdly enough, she didn't seem to be talking to me, but to my baby.

"Hello, my soldier," she said to my belly. Stroking my stomach, she began to go into almost a cooing voice. "After you're born, I'm going to raise you. You'll be given the proper training, of course, and eventually you'll be modified genetically into one of the universe's best warriors. Oh, don't worry—I'll keep you safe." She continued to rub my stomach, ignoring me completely.

"And what will you do with me?" I asked.

She jerked her face up to look at me, apparently annoyed I had interrupted her "maternal" bonding with my unborn child. "Oh, right. Well, I suppose you'll do well as a Midwife, if you're nice."

"What if I'm not nice?" I asked.

She gave me a malicious grin. "I'd tell you, but I heard high stress levels in the mother is bad for babies. I'm sure you can use your imagination. Now, night-night." I felt a dart in my neck, and everything went black.

I woke up to find myself in an unfamiliar room. Then, out the side of my eye, I noticed a camera in the corner of the room. My blood froze as I saw the familiar eye-patched face smiling down at me.

The nightmare wasn't over.


	5. Chapter 5

Propping myself up, I saw Madame Kovarian in a chair, smiling at me.

"Good day," she said. "Enjoyed your sleep.?"

"What happened to my baby?" I asked.

"Silly girl, your baby's still in your stomach," said Madame.

My cheeks burned at her mockery. "I thought you assisted in my pregnancy?"

"Oh no, we want to get your baby much stronger before you birth her. We just injected you with some...enhancement drugs for now", said the woman. She had a smug smile on her face.

"I'm not letting you do anything to me or my-" I said, before she cut me off.

"There's nothing you can really do," she said. "This place is controlled by me. Every woman here works for me, or is my patient. There is no escape for you."

"I'm going to find a way out, and then I'm going to find a way to make you pay," I snarled.

"Such spirit! We'll break that out of you soon enough!" the Madame said, grinning. "Cheerio!" Then she pressed a button that made the screen and the room dark.

In the inky blackness, I felt a slight inkling of despair. But I beat it down, and resolved to find a way out of this situation. I sat alone for what felt like hours. Occasionally, I could see shadows peeking from the door across from me. I could hear women's voices outside my door. I strained, silently hoping to hear some clue on how to escape. But they were too quiet for me to hear, and besides,I doubted leaving would be that easy. I tried to get up a few times, but I was just too heavy, too tired, and a little queasy.

My eyes began to adjust more to the darkness, but there wasn't more to see. My back was, thankfully, comfortable on the bed. If I wasn't being imprisoned by a insane harpy, I'd almost enjoy the fluffy bed pillows. My mind began to drift to how I got in this situation in the first place—River.

I never wanted this. I never wanted to be trapped alone, with both me and my baby at the whims of a psycho. If River hadn't dragged me to this, I wouldn't be in this situation. I was gonna tear her a new one when I got out of this.

Suddenly, the door opened. Two Midwives with a bed grabbed me, and heaved me not-so-gently from the bed I was in to the rolling bed.

"Hey, I'm pregnant, so be careful!" I snarled. They ignored me.

They wheeled me out of my room and down the hall. We stopped at an elevator, and I decided to make my escape. I jumped from the bed—well, more like dropped ungracefully—and tried to run away. Unfortunately, I could only run but so far with my belly, and I could hear those damn nurses coming closer. I looked around for a weapon to use, and saw a scalpel laying on a tray filled with medical tools. Grabbing the scalpel, I turned around to face my pursuers.

"Stay away from me or my baby, or I'll make sure it's the last thing you do!" I said, brandishing my knife. The Midwives backed away. I walked backward to the stairwell, keeping my eyes on the nurses. Then I turned around, opened the stairwell door, and felt a tiny pinprick o my neck. Then I fell to the floor, as a nurse with a tranquilizer gun stood over me.

When I woke up, I was back in the room.

That's how it was for several weeks. Every time I tried to escape, I would get captured. One time, I tried stealing a nurse's clothes to escape. I was found within seconds due to my belly. Another time, I held one of the nurses hostage in my room, locking the door from the inside. They busted down the door (I was then placed in a different room.). Another time, I set a fire on my examination table, in a desperate attempt to burn the hospital down. I only succeeded in singing my clothes. I could tell by the increasingly rough way I was being treated that I was starting to piss off the Midwives, which gave me a little satisfaction. But I was still no closer to escaping.

But that wasn't the worst part. The worst part was the experiments the Madame put me through. I was measured, and I was pushed, and I was prodded. The Midwives forced me to run non-stop, just to "test my endurance. " Hours of hours of scanning through machines, to check the progress of my baby. And I was injected with countless strange chemicals. My poor baby was slowly being turned into some form of freak for the Kovarian, and there was nothing I could do to stop it.

I began to lose track of the days. Sometimes I began to think that River and my life as a thief was just a thing I made up, and these white walls was all there is. But I always reminded myself that such talk was beneath me. I was Lady Christina, and I would find some way out.

And then, one day, I was wheeled out for what I thought was yet another round of experiments. Then I saw Madame Kovarian smiling down at me.

"Hello, dear," said my tormentor. "Are you ready for your pregnancy?"

My body felt stiff being so restrained. The Midwives injected me with some "pain-killing" agents so that I wouldn't hurt too bad. I was shaking really bad, and they nearly didn't get the mini-spinal block they were placing near the bottom of my spine in place. It worked out, though, and I didn't even feel the laser knife cutting my body. (That still didn't make seeing a knife cut my lower abdomen open any easier, though.) Kovarian kept on trying to tell me to keep calm. I eventually told her to shut up; hearing her voice only made things more stressful. And it was stressful enough. The Wives slowly began to take out my baby. It probably only took a few minutes at most, but it felt much longer. At first, I didn't want too much drugs (after all, I still didn't trust Kovarian not to try to trick me). But by the end, I wanted all the painkillers I could get. The Midwives did the best they could to make things stress-free, but nothing prepares you for having a whole other object being taken out of your body, no matter how many painkillers you take. But eventually, my baby was out of my body.

I was in so much pain, and felt more tired than ever before. But I still peeked an eye open to see my girl. Judging from the smiles on the Midwives' faces, she was okay. Soon, I heard her cough, and turn to look at me. She was just as cute as I had imagined.

"Here, you can have the baby," said Madame Kovarian. I was almost offended—what made her think she could give me permission to touch my own baby—but I was too tired to argue.

"Hold the baby, and then rest for awhile," she said to me. "Then we'll talk. I have bigger plans for you."

 _Bigger plans?_ What the hell did that mean?

I woke up feeling barely refreshed. My back felt comforted on a soft bed. I looked around, and I seemed to be in my room in the Ward. Looking down, I was surprised to see my belly intact. In front of me was a mirror, and I saw how silly I looked worrying in a perfectly safe room.

It had been a dream!

Laughing at myself, I pushed myself off the bed. Wondering where River was, I searched for my phone so I could call her. Then I stopped myself. I was getting awfully concerned for her, considering she was blackmailing me. Deciding to push it out of my mind, I realized I still couldn't find my purse. I-

"Wake up!" said the Kovarian.

My eyes fluttered open. I looked around, and felt familiar restraints on my arms. "Wha-? Where am I? Why am I back on the operation table?"

"You never left. You must have had a fever dream," said the Madame. "Perhaps the anesthesia dosage was too high if you're having hallucinations...it might hurt the baby." She seemed to be pondering this, while a Midwife with a very metal knife hovered over my stomach.

Great, I had to go through the hell of childbirth twice. "Do you even care about me at all? I'm having hallucinations, and all you care about is whether your soldier comes out deformed?" I already knew the answer, but I needed something to keep sane.

"Of course I don't care about you!" she said, laughing maniacally. Prodding my belly, she said "I care about the strong soldier who will end up helping defeat the Doctor, and allowing me to be successful against all my opponents! Why would I care about the puny woman who creates my daughter?"

I could feel my blood boiling at that. "You soulless-!"

"Call me whatever names you will," said the Kovarian. "I've been called worse, by people far more important than you. You are useless, outside of being a surrogate. In time, you'll learn that."

I stared at the woman with the most hateful expression I could. I looked at the Midwife holding the metal knife to my stomach. Is this what I'd be in a few years? Just a drone under Kovarian's service? The Midwife seemed to barely flinch under my gaze, except to scratch her bushy hair.

Wait...

The Midwife winked at me.

Nodding at the "Midwife", I smiled at the Madame.

"I'll never work for you," I said.


	6. Chapter 6

And then River threw off her Midwife's mask and...took her stomach off. From it was revealed several guns. River pointed a gun at the Kovarian. "You made the right choice-she's a horrible boss. Trust me, I would know."

"How did you...?" asked a shocked Kovarian.

"Stealing Midwife clothes and infiltrating your group wasn't that hard," said River. "Honestly, I was disappointed."

"Do you even expect to survive any attempt to leave this place?" said the eye-patched woman.

River laughed, and motioned me to come to her side. I tried to move out of the bed, but my heavy stomach got in the way, and I kinda hobbled instead.

"We'll take our chances," said River.

We walked slowly out the room, into black-painted hallways. I could see the top of the surrounding buildings from the windowsI quickly realized we must have been in the top floor of the ward.

"Thank you," I said to River.

River simply gave her rather pretty smile in response, and scanned around.

"By now, Chrissie, the Madame's already set off the alarms," River said.

"So what do we do?" I said.

"Find some way to escape," said River.

"We can't just leave," I said. "Kovarian's taking the patients in this ward for her sick experiments." I was horrified at what could be happening to Sara...

"Well, there's not much we can do if we're dead," said River. She checked around the corner for enemies, then said "Plus, I have a plan for that as well."

"I hope so, and I don't suppose you have a spare weapon?" I said. River threw me a weird looking look.

"Well, I have a psi-paralyzer gun," says River. "From the future. But it looks like you're too heavy to walk, let alone carry a gun."

"You're from the future?" I said.

A small smile crept onto River's face. "Spoilers," said River.. "But seriously, you're barely walking."

"I can certainly walk!" I said, and tried to step. I nearly fell.

"Hmm, this is going to be a problem.. . Ooh, that's a wonderful idea," River said, smiling widely. In one sweeping motion, she grabbed me into her arms and started walking toward the stairs. I was about to protest, when I suddenly realized how easy it would be for me to kiss her. She caught me watching, and her grin got wider.

"You h-have really nice eyes," I said with significant more stammer than I would have liked. River laughed somewhat stiffly.

"Something wrong?" I asked, wondering if I had offended her.

"It's just that carrying you in my arms is significantly less romantic because you're so bloody heavy," said River.

"What did you just say about me?" I started.

With an "Oh shut up", River kissed me. On the mouth. I t was a surprise, but not an unwelcome one. When we parted, she winked at me. I just nodded dumbly.

River carried me down several hallways. Kicking the door to the stairs open, she was surprised by a tazer-weilding Midwife.

"For the glory of Kovarian!" yelled the Midwife.

River, balancing the gun on my chest, shot her with an energy blast to the chest. She looked at me and said "Don't worry, it's set to stun."

"I wasn't worried," I said. My past few days here had eliminated my sympathy.

We ran down the stairs. Kovarian's workers tried to get in our way, but we managed to fend them off (And it was no picnic, since one of us was pregnant, and the other was carrying that heavy pregnant woman). River would occasionally put me down, while she went off to scout out for any other Midwives. While she was searching downstairs, I would keep watch upstairs. Eventually, through teamwork, we got to the bottom floor. River ran through the door to that floor, and holding me bridal-style, shot and dodged her way through the last remaining guards, with me providing back-up. Finally, we arrived at the locked black door that we had seen a few days ago. River slowly opened the door, and then beckoned me inside.

There were several red lights flashing in the room. Clearly, it was only a matter of time till they found us. River immediately took out a small Ipad-like device (were her pockets bigger on the inside?), and connected it to the server.

"Do you know what you're doing?" I asked nervously.

"Let's hope so," River said.

She pressed buttons on her device furiously. I watched the door, hoping she'd hurry up her plan. I could feel my baby kicking inside, and I hoped that Kovarian's chemicals hadn't turned the baby into some sort of mutant. I comforted the baby, and then it hit me that I hadn't even named her yet.

"Come on, come on..." said River to her machine. Then, a loud tone rung out from her device. She grinned and gave me a thumbs-up.

"What'd you do?" I asked.

"Downloaded the Madame's information to my device," she said.

I gave her a blank look. "How does that help us escape?"

Instead of answering me, River looked up at the speaker system above us. "I know you're listening, Madame."

For a few seconds, there was silence. Then, "Are you going to surrender?"

River said "No, but I'm giving you a chance to let us leave."

"And why would I do that, my dear River?"said the woman.

"Because I just hacked into your servers, and if you don't let us go, I'll upload all your documents to UNIT," said River.

Kovarian laughed at that threat. "Our computers have countless security blocks and are practically impenetrable, so why should I believe you're not just bluffing?"

"You know that you have a patient here named Sara Bush? Well, she has a mother named Mel, who's one of the best hackers ever, and wasn't too happy when I informed her about where her daughter was staying."

"So?" said the still-unimpressed Kovarian.

"And she was trained by a particular Doctor we both know. And if you don't let me leave here, she might just contact him."

I didn't understand what she had said, but it made the Kovarian was oddly silent.

"All Midwives, let River Song and Lady Christina leave," said Madame Kovarian with a sigh.

"Let's go," said River.

"Leave your device here," said Kovarian. "You will regret this, Mels."

I saw River grimace. But she stayed silent, and she, I, and the daughter within my stomach walked out the door, with no interference.


	7. Epilogue

"So now what?" I asked. My daughter Sara looked around as I held her in my arms. River was on a UNIT office, relaxing after our journey.

"Well, after I sent the data to UNIT—and tricked that eye-patched hag into thinking I hadn't—UNIT went into the place and raided it. No sign of Kovarian, but that's to be expected."

River looked up at the ceiling. "All these adventures are...almost not worth the pain," she said.

"You're just saying that because it's still fresh in your memory," I said. "You were happy to see my baby, after all. "

Then I realized something. "You never asked me who the father was."

River grinned at that. "Everyone has Spoilers. If I get to have secrets, and I have lots of them, so do you . Anyway, thank you for helping me take down the ward."

"Now I have to figure out a place to stay," I grumbled.

River raised an eyebrow. She drew herself up, and brought her face closer to mine "You could stay with me."

"Would you really trust me enough to let me stick around? I might try to steal something from you again," I said.

"I'll take my chances with my 'lesbian lover'" River said, smiling mischievously.

Glaring at her, I said "I still haven't forgiven you for that."

"Christie!" called a familiar voice. I turned around to see Sara. A woman with even bushier hair was right beside her."How are you?"

"Pretty okay," I said. "How have you been?"

"Wonderful! Can't believe that the Ward was just using us for sick experiments," said Sara. "It's kind of a bummer, I'll need to find a new place for my baby."

"Anyplace is better than there. I told you to be careful!" said the woman next to Sara.

"Sorry, mom. Christie, this is Mel. She helped get us out of here," said Sara.

"Thanks, Ms. Bush!" I said. Then, with more hesitation "River said you knew the Doctor?"

'Sort of. Haven't met him in a year or two, though," said Ms. Bush. Before I could ask any more questions, Mel was chattering to Sara about finding her a new hospital. I decided to just leave the subject be. I saw River looking off into space. She had hinted that Kovarian and her had dealt with each other in the past—I wondered how well they really had known each other. I walked up to River and tried to surprise-tap her on the shoulder.

"You still think you can sneak up on me?" said River without looking back. She turned around, all traces of her wistfulness gone, replaced with her usual playful, sexy smile.

I walked up to River. "Speaking of surprises, about that kiss in the Ward..."

River kissed me again. "I don't see what's so surprising?"

I grinned at her. She took my hand, and with my baby in my hands, we went to another adventure.


End file.
